Page 88 of Protecting his Heart

Felix stared at him but nodded, then scrunched up his face. “Well, kind of.” Evan glared at him, and Felix continued. “Takinginto account the weather conditions that day—little wind, clear skies—there was no way he wouldn’t have hit Owen if he’d been aiming to kill him.”

“He was making a point,” Owen said. “Showing us how close he could get.”

Evan growled, “Too fucking close.”

Felix nodded. “That’s my guess.”

“Are we any closer to finding out who it is?” Owen asked.

“No, and it’s pissing me off,” Brett said, joining them. “Anika never saw her kidnapper’s face because he always wore a mask, but she knows his voice, as does her father. But unless we have a voice to offer them, we have nothing. And her memory will only last so long before it’s distorted by time.”

“Anything from the house?” Evan asked.

Felix shook his head. “Nothing. The explosion incinerated everything useful.”

“The knife?” Owen asked.

“Again, nothing more than the same fingerprints we can’t identify.”

“We should get Malachi involved. He’s more tenacious than anyone I’ve met recently.” Owen was only half-joking. He crossed his arms over his chest and paced away and back again several times. “It’s someone we know,” he said, coming to a stop again.

Brett frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Think about it. ‘New year, old enemy.’ If they’re calling themselves an old enemy, there must be some link or previous event that connects them to us. When Randall was kidnapped last year, it was Addams who was doing the heavy lifting. This time, it was the guy himself. The one behind Addams. At least, we think it was. It could’ve been someone else pretending to be the guy. But he’s counting. Dominic was one; I was two. It stands to reason that there is an overarching connection.”

“We’ve been cross-referencing everything in yours and Dominic’s lives, and nothing is jumping out at us,” Brett said.

“What if it’s not the friendship?” he mused, following his train of thought.

“We’ve tried investigating the links between you two and the royal family and their events. Nothing.”

Owen shook his head, the thought manifesting. He stared at Brett. “What if it’s nothing to do with the royal family at all? What if it’s to do with the bodyguards?”

He watched his words sink into Brett’s head, and the man’s eyes glazed over. Then he snapped to attention. “Felix, run a program to see if you can find any connections between the bodyguards. Anything outside of work, anything in their personal lives that we know of. They’ll hate it, but we need to know.” He glanced at Owen, a small smile on his face. “You’re not just a pretty face.”

Owen chuckled. “If I was, I wouldn’t be here. Pretty doesn’t save lives on its own. Oh, did anyone check out Mum’s house?”

“Yes,” Brett said. “She has a new security system now.”

“I’m sure she loved that.”

Brett returned to his desk, and Felix chuckled from behind them. “She cursed a little more than they expected.”

Owen laughed again. “Sounds like her.”

Felix continued. “He did mention that he loved her mug, though. He loves anything to do with Laurel and Hardy.”

Owen raised his eyebrows, a weird feeling bubbling in his stomach. “How old is he? Is he single?”

Felix grinned. “Old enough and yes.”

Felix returned to his new orders, so Owen turned to Evan, who wore a big smile. “What?” he asked.

“I love you.”

Owen grinned. “Wowed by my brains, are you?”

Evan shook his head. “Wowed by you, in general.”

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